Marcus woke up to the smell of roasted meat which made his stomach instantly growl in hunger. He quickly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar roof and after a moment he tried to sit up. But found he couldn't move because most of his body was wrapped up like a mummy. The parts he could move made the rest of his body scream in protest against the action. So after a couple moments, Marcus decided not to sit up but turned his head slightly to see where he was.
After seeing a pretty plain room with almost no defining features, Marcus sucked in a breath before he yelled out, "Hey, is anyone here?!?"
Within a few seconds Marcus heard the sound of people running and moments later the door slammed open as his brothers ran inside. Luffy was in the lead and he jumped onto Marcus's bed which made Marcus groan in pain before Luffy said, "You missed five meals."
Marcus took a moment to recover before he said, "Can you get off my bed, it makes it hard to breathe properly."
Luffy glanced down to see he was pushing on Marcus's wrapped ribs before Ace grabbed him by the collar and hauled him off the bed as he said, "Don't jump on his bed idiot."
Marcus smirked slightly as he asked, "Thanks… So what did I miss after I led Arlong away?"
"The one you called Hachi ended up helping us and rallied a handful of others to join him… It was a tough fight, but we were able to win without serious injuries to the villagers." Ace said with a smile before he added, "We were gonna go help you afterwards, but Bogard showed up and said grandpa was with you."
Marcus nodded slightly as he said, "Grandpa showed up right before I passed out."
"Apparently he watched your entire fight and said he could have done better at your age… Something about beating Arlong in a single punch." Sabo said with a smirk.
"Damn right I could, you brats are still weak compared to me!" Garp said before he burst into laughter.
Everyone turned to see Garp as he walked into the room carrying a tray of meat and a large pitcher of milk. Garp's gaze focused on Marcus as he said, "You woke up just in time, I was bringing you food to help you heal."
Ace frowned slightly as he asked, "Didn't the doctors both say Marcus needed to eat lite foods for a couple weeks?"
"Those idiots don't know anything. Some meat and milk for a day or two and Marcus will be just fine." Garp said as he placed the food on a table next to the bed.
A moment later Luffy was knocked into the floor and his hand retracted back to his body from the plate of food as Garp said, "Don't even think about it brat, this is for Marcus."
"In my current condition I doubt that I can feed myself, let alone even move my arms." Marcus said with a helpless smile.
"Bah, it was those stupid doctors who wrapped you up too much. They even gave you a bunch of drugs that knocked you out for over a day." Garp said before he reached over the bandages that covered Marcus's arms.
He gripped them firmly before he yanked hard and ripped them all off. Marcus grunted in pain at the action before Garp said, "Alright, you should be able to feed yourself now."
Marcus gave Garp an incredulous look for a few moments before he reached over to the plate of food and grabbed a large piece of meat from it. He lifted it up and found that while his arms were a little sore, they didn't hurt and he could basically move them without issue. A moment later he took a bite of his food and after he finished it he asked, "How long are you here for this time grandpa?"
"Another week or two, unless something happens… Don't worry, I'll make sure you boys get some good training in before I leave. You and all of your little friends."
Garp's words made all the boys shiver for a moment but Marcus quickly recovered and started eating in earnest. Garp watched for a moment before he waved the others out of the room as he said, "Go play with your friends, I'll keep Marcus company till he's done eating."
Ace and the others quickly said goodbye and after they left Garp settled into a chair next Marcus's bed with an exhausted sigh. Glanced towards Garp as he gulped down some milk. Afterwards he used the back of his arm to clean his greasy mouth before he asked, "Since you were watching me, does that mean Ace was the other person who released that blast of conqueror's haki?"
Garp nodded as he frowned slightly and after a few moments he said, "Both of you are gonna be a lot of trouble later if you don't join the marines."
"Luffy will have it too… Sabo, I'm not sure about though."
Garp glanced at Marcus for a moment before he gave out a bitter laugh and said, "Of course he would have it too…"
"And I'm positive none of us are joining the marines… Sorry grandpa." Marcus gave a helpless shrug before he dug back into his food.
Garp narrowed his eyes slightly and watched Marcus eat for a while before he let out another sigh and said, "I expected as much."
"Then why train us so hard knowing we won't be joining you in the marines?"
"If you're in the marines or not doesn't really matter to me… I just want you boys strong enough to protect yourself when you finally go out to sea." Garp said with a hint of pride in his voice.
Marcus finished off the piece of meat in his hand before he asked, "If that's the case, why don't you just retire and train us full time?"
"You think they would just let someone like me retire?" Garp asked with a smile before he shook his head and said, "Even if they did, I wouldn't quit. It would make it harder to find strong people to fight."
As Garp laughed, Marcus shook his head slightly before he asked, "Since Ace and I both awakened our color of kings, should we start training in haki?"
Garp stopped laughing and focused on Marcus with a serious look for a few moments before he said, "Probably, but the others are still too weak. They could train in observation haki, but armament would be too much for them to learn. You need a stronger willpower to learn it and most of those brats don't have that… Sabo is the closest."
"You mind giving me and Ace a crash course in haki training before you leave?" Marcus asked before he chugged down the last of his milk.
Garp went quiet for about a minute or so as Marcus finished off his food. When he finally came to a decision he chuckled slightly before he said in a voice that made Marcus shiver, "A crash course uh? Yeah I can definitely do that…"
Garp stood up and moved to collect the tray and pitcher before he said, "Rest up, I'll bring you more food later."
Marcus didn't argue and quickly fell asleep with his full belly. Over the next day or so, Garp would return randomly with a bunch of meat and a large pitcher of milk for Marcus to consume. And on the following morning Garp woke Marcus up with another meal before he tore the rest of the badges off of Marcus as he said, "Finish eating and then get dressed before you come outside."
Marcus quickly finished his meal and slowly got out of bed. He was already feeling a lot better then when he first woke up, but was still surprised to find that besides his body being stiff. It mostly felt fine and his body could move without any issues. After stretching for a few minutes, Marcus walked over to where some fresh clothes were placed and got dressed.
When Marcus stepped out of the room he was surprised to find he was in a small house and not in the village doctor's clinic. The house itself was pretty bare and looked like it wasn't lived in by anyone. Marcus didn't pay it much attention after his initial glance and instead headed to the front door where he heard the sound of weapons clashing.
Outside he found Garp munching on rice crackers as Ace and Sabo sparred with new weapons. Marcus watched them for a few moments before he asked, "When did they get those?"
"I promised the winner of the training camp a prize and it took a while to find a good one. If Ace used a sword, it wouldn't have taken long at all. But that idiot uses a naginata and finding a named one isn't easy." Garp said in annoyed tone before he nodded towards Sabo and added, "It would normally be impossible to find a decent halberd for Sabo. But some low tier pirate with a bounty of five hundred million had one, so I took him down and confiscated it."
"Really, a five hundred million bounty is considered a low tier pirate?" Marcus asked in an incredulous tone.
Garp snorted like he heard a good joke before he said, "Unless they are around a few billion or more they aren't worth shit."
Garp finished his rice crackers before he crumpled up the packaging and infused haki into it. A moment later he launched it at Ace and Sabo's weapons when they clashed together again. Both boys were knocked off their feet from the powerful blow and the packaging flew into a rock ten yards away where it cracked it in half. Both boys jumped up and glared at Garp who just laughed before he said, "Put your weapons away, it's time to train."
Marcus glanced towards the broken rock in the distance before he asked, "You gonna pick up your trash first?"
Garp glanced towards the broken rock for a moment before he said, "I will later."
"Do it while they put their weapons away." Marcus said as Ace and Sabo disappeared into the house.
Garp glanced at Marcus and his eye twitched slightly as he asked, "Just who do you think you're talking to, brat?"
"Someone who will forget if I don't remind them."
When Ace and Sabo stepped back outside, they found Marcus with a couple lumps on his head and Garp walking back from the rock with trash in his hand. Garp glanced over them all and stuffed the trash in his pocket before he said, "Alright let's get started. I don't have time to teach you boys properly, but I should be able to beat the basics into you before I leave."
All of them started to sweat at Garp's words and Marcus started second guessing if asking Garp for training was a good idea. Garp pulled out three blind and handed them over to the boys before he said, "First thing I'm gonna be… teach you is how to sense the world around you without your eyes."
Garp pulled out another blindfold for himself and put it on before he said, "Just to prove that this works, I'll give you boys a little demonstration… Try and hit me."
Marcus knew what was about to happen but Ace and Sabo… They had other ideas, like getting some payback on Garp for once. Needless to say Ace and Sabo were completely worn out from trying to hit Garp while Marcus only attempted it a few times. Garp finally pulled off his blindfold after half an hour before he asked, "What do you think? Pretty good skill to have, right?"
The boys nodded in agreement before Garp said, "Alright, put on your own blindfolds after you sit down on the ground a few feet apart."
After they followed his directions Garp said, "Next you need to calm down and focus your mind. Try to perceive the world around you and extend your other senses out. Keep your breathing steady and just focus."
Whack! The sound of something solid striking flesh rang out.
"What the hell!" Ace yelled out in pain.
"I said to focus."
"I was focusing until you hit me." Ace said in a resentful tone.
"Hitting you is the best way to train this skill. Once you can sense the blow coming, you should be able to dodge it like I did." Garp said before another sharp whack rang out and Marcus grunted in pain.
The next few hours were hell as Garp relentlessly beat the three boys like they were birthday piñatas. By the time lunch arrived, the boys had lumps and bruises all over their bodies. Garp led them from the house on the outskirts of town to the dock where Marcus's ship was resting. When Marcus spotted it he asked, "Didn't the fishmen sink my ship?"
"This area is shallow so it didn't fully sink, only your cargo hold was under water. I was able to raise the ship myself before I had my men repair the hole that was used to sink it. It's not perfect, but it will hold up just fine even in a storm." Garp said as he led them on the ship.
After greeting everyone in the galley and finding out that Bogard was training them. Marcus and the others ate lunch together before Garp took them back for more training that lasted till dinner. After dinner training continued until the boys passed out from exhaustion and the next morning it started all over again… By the end of the second day, Marcus was completely regretting his choice to ask Garp for haki training.